I a multicultural educator, says that, living

I am writing to apply for funding assistance to attend theSeminar-workshop on “ Catalyzing Multicultural Librarians: Opportunities, Challengesand Strategies in the 21st Century” on February 28- March 02, 2018at Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. No one in this world is exactly the same.

We may share somesimilarities with other people but at the end of the day, each of us is our ownperson. We have our own personality, background, values, and beliefs.  Thus, as a young professional librarian, Ibelieve that before I can truly give a satisfying service to our clients, it isimportant that I know how to interact with people regardless of theirnationalities, economic status and stations in life and by understanding themdeeper through their cultures and background. James Banks, a multiculturaleducator, says that, living in a diverse society requires that we “ know, care, and act.”  In other words, weneed to learn about people and understand their issues, care about people withour hearts, and take the action necessary to make sure that people are treatedwell and that justice is done.

I believe that we all have the capacity to caredeeply about each other. We all have the capacity to learn and take action. Weshould not wait for someone else to take action, we can make a difference topeople in our own simple ways. In our library, through the provision of a cultural and indigenoussection, we provide a welcoming place for our students from different cultures andethnicities.  This section contains multicultural collection that reflect thecultural and linguistic characteristics of the community that enable the usersto learn more about theirculture thus, promoting cultural awareness andencouraging communication withone another. We also have makerspaceswhere we provide collaborative environment for the students to work as one andshare what they know and learn new skills.

We also have our AKLAT Project, wherein we started to build mini libraries in the nearby barangays and publicschools as well as conducted storytelling to pupils using the Iloko, Filipinoand English language. With these projects we were able to meet people whobelong to the marginalized sector and by interacting with them we come todiscover their cultures, beliefs, traditions, aspirations and dreams. We want every person especiallythe youth to have the opportunity to fulfill their potentials.

In our library, we see to it that library services do not discriminate against people ongrounds such as gender, race, sexuality or disability. Our various libraryservices aim to meet their different needs and aspirations and are pro-activein advancing equality and promoting good relations between different groups.  And so, we try our best to help the peopleovercome barriers such as poverty, low aspirations and poor educationalattainment.  By attending this seminar it willnot only provide me with an opportunity to learn more about multicultural librarianshipbut will also allow our institution to gain valuable information on how to helpour clients especially the marginalized individuals from various ethnicities.  Furthermore, this will be a great experiencesince I get to network with other professionals in the field, and this willenable me to interact with them on how we can work together towards promotingmulticulturalism in our respective libraries.